|
I find it interesting that in regards to
fuel in the cockpit that the general consensus seems to be the opposite of what
all RVs use, i.e.. low and high pressure lines in the cockpit. I would
guess that Van gave his design a bit of a thought, considering the millions of
dollars he risks in lawsuits, and has his proof with thousands of planes flying
without problems. it is my understanding that john Denver had a supposedly
safe "no fuel in the cockpit" system which ignored the practical aspect of being
easy to use. I do recognize that it would be difficult in an RV to get
fuel from the wings to the engine without going thru the cockpit, but with,
what, 4000+ planes flying, is this a perceived problem, or a real one?
some guys squeezed fuel pumps between the wing and the fuse, but you still have
to get thru the firewall. what scared me was the T-craft, with that tank
up there behind the panel.. my trainer plane leaked a bit, too.
I feel the same way about oil pressure
gauges. typically you've got a line to the sender or the gauge.(I mostly
see them mounted on the firewall, not the engine block) people think
"plastic" is no good, but I don't see mine fatiguing. some guys have
"plastic" brake lines, some use AL, and some only use s/s lines. my only
experience so far with failure has been an electrical failure (alt shut down
after hour of peak demands and battery had dropped to 8 volts) in which case I
had no tach (had switched it to elec after drive shaft probs), fuel gauges, oil
temp, but I did have oil pressure and fuel pressure, altimeter, A/S
etc..... I was also glad that I had listened to Jeff rose and kept one
magneto (I was over crater lake in the cascade mtns. at the time). so
if you decide to go all electric, many do, remember it also needs electric
to run. same with EFIS, no CPU, no display.
kevin
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 8:31
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: gauges
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 9:17
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: gauges
Some DAR's require that you have a valve and can
reach it with your seat belt on. I assume an electric one, as Ed
mentioned would also do. JohnD
The control valve could be outside the cockpit and operated by a dash
mounted pointer with a long aluminum tube shaft through the firewall to the
valve.
LYnn E. Hanover
Speaking of fuel valves, the original Cozy plans
call for a manual selector valve mounted between the pilot and
co-pilot with lines up to the seat-back and then to the engine. This setup
has several connections in the cockpit that can leak.
As far as a fuel shut off valve, I don't plan on
using one, just turn off the fuel pumps. For maintenance I plan on ball
valves out of the tank (ahead of the sump tank) and these could be remotely
operated.
Thanks to all for the responses on the gauges
questions. I found some sources for the VDO units and will look at the
suggested ones also.
Any suggestions on water pressure gauge senders?
Can't find any yet.
Wendell
|